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The first is that portion which is reserved for immediate

consumption, and of which the characteristic is, that it affords

no revenue or profit. It consists in the stock of food, clothes,

household furniture, etc. which have been purchased by their

proper consumers, but which are not yet entirely consumed. The

whole stock of mere dwelling-houses, too, subsisting at any one

time in the country, make a part of this first portion. The stock

that is laid out in a house, if it is to be the dwelling-house of

the proprietor, ceases from that moment to serve in the function

of a capital, or to afford any revenue to its owner. A

dwelling-house, as such, contributes nothing to the revenue of

its inhabitant; and though it is, no doubt, extremely useful to

him, it is as his clothes and household furniture are useful to

him, which, however, make a part of his expense, and not of his

revenue.