Since Jesus freely did appear. J. Berridge. [ Holy Matrimony.] Appeared in the Gospel Magazine for Aug. 1775, p. 380, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, headed with the text St. John ii. 1, 2, followed by the words "A Wedding Hymn," and signed "Old Everton." It was afterwards included in his Zion's Songs, 1785, as "Our Jesus freely did appear." It is given in modern hymnbooks generally in an altered form, with varying number of stanzas.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)