The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-14 00:00:00

THE UNITED STATES.

LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.
The United States mail steam-ship Baltic, CaPt'
James Comstock, arrived this afternoon from New
York, with advices tothe 2d instant, 83 passengeof
and 35,000 dollars in specie.
The United States mail steam-ship Union, fill
Havre and Southampton,.pnt into Halifax on the
1
Ist instant, short of coals. She had been out
days.

The news of the acceptance of the peace prOPCP.
sitions by Russia was known in New York by tele'
graph front Halifax. The opinions expressed by the
United States press are generally doubtful, as re-
gards the result of Russia's acceptance.
There was still no Speasker elected.
In the House of Representatives on Vrednesdeit
Mr. Clingtnan brought forward his resolution 0
adopt the plurality rule in the election of Speaker'
An intense excitement prevailed throughout the
Chamber, as it was -regarded as certain that the
proposition would command a majority of .the
votes, and thereby enable the house to orgelllr
Upon taking the-
question, however, it resulted _w
the rejection of the' resolution. It is evident,
therefore, that Mr. Banks must be withdrawn
before the house can organise.
In the United States Senate, on Thursday, Mr.
Seward delivered his speech upon the Central
American question ; General Wilson will also
speak upon Central American affairs ; ho i9l'
favour of abrogating the Clayton-Bulwer tree*,
and the immediate recognition and colonisation 01
Nicaragua.
The proceedings of the House of Representative°
justify the opinion that the struggle for the
Speakership is rapidly drawing to a close. Tip
plurality rule was again offered and again rejected•
The vote stood 108 for to 110 against. A motion
declaring Mr. Banks Speaker was promptly negilli;
tined-103 against 115. Mr. Aiken, of Sou
L,'
Carolina, was then proposed, and he received 103
votes against 110.
A rencontre took place in the streets of Wash'
ington, between Horace Greeley. and Mr. Rusty
Member of the House, from Arkansas. Mr.
was impelled by certain offensive personal remark
published in the Tribune.

COMMERCIAL.
NEW YORK, Feb. 2.—The cotton market was 63r;
cited yesterday, after the receipt of the foreign news,lll
the sales reached about 3,000 bales, part of which 1"_,
"
in transitu. The prices closed at an advance of about
gc. per lb. Flour, was depressed, and the market ungui"
tied. Wheat was quiet, and quotations nominal. Core
heavy. Freights were unchanged, while engagemeuti
were moderate.

There has been a fair business in sterling for 00
step.mer to-morrow, and in consequence of the delay of
Southern mails the supply of dutside bills was limited-
The leading bankers accordingly put up their rates to
8i to 8i per cent. with but small sales above;
cent. The bulk Of the business was dens at Si forgo°
signatures.

THE PENINSULAR MAILS
SOUTHAMPTON WEDNESDAY.
The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam'
ship Madrid, Captain George Bradshaw, with tho
usual Peninsular mails, iti charge of lAieut. Brydgess
R.N., Admiralty Agent, arrived this afternoon.
During the homeward voyage, the Madrid expo'
rienced variable light winds, and strong S.W.
winds, with hazy weather.
She left Gibraltar, Feb. sth ; Cadiz, 6th ; Lis-
bon, 9th ; Oporto, 10th ; Vigo, 10th.
The Madrid brought 19 passengers and 14 dis-
tressed seamen ; and her freight consisted of 8
packages of specie, value 3,0831. ; 140 boxes of eggs,
12 casks of wine, 3811 chests of oranges, 5 cases of
marble, 30.4 boxes of tangerines, and 10 packages of
sundries.

Her Majesty's ships Urgent and Algiers were at
Gibraltar • at Cadiz, the French Government war
steamer Durance, bound to the Crimea with artil-
lery and ammunition ' • at Lisbon, her Majesty's
steamer St. George, and English merchant steamer
Milan ; at Oporto, Rattler, steamer, for Liverpool,
waited four days to cross the bar ; Douro, steamer,
for Liverpool ; Vesta, steamer, for London ; and
Queen and Butjadingen, steamers, for South-
ampton. _

Ships observed on the 'voyage :—Feb. 7, brig
Silistria, steering to Northward ; 9th, screw
steamer Cleator, bound to Lisbon ; 11th, Peninsu-
lar and Oriental steam-ship Tagus, lat. 44 37 N.,
long. 8 21 W., hull down to westward ; 12th, brig
Silistria, lat. 48 46 N., long. 5 27 W.