First in point of time and interest comes the mortgage debt, i. e. the claim for the return of money lent on the security of some tangible object. Such claims are among the earliest fruits of a commercial civilization, and are nearly always affected the same way, viz. by the deposit or pledge of the security with the creditor, to be redeemed or returned on the payment of the debt.
Chapter IX, The Law Of Personal Property, p. 123 - A Short History Of The English Law (First Edition) (1912)