The absence of guilt. 2. The law presumes in favor of innocence, even against another presumption of law: for example, when a woman marries a second husband within the space of twelve months after her husband had left the country, the presumption of innocence preponderates over the presumption of the continuance of life. An exception to this rule respecting the presumption of innocence has been made in the case of the publication of a libel, the principal being presumed to have authorized the sale, when a libel is sold by his agent in his usual place of doing business.