Sentence:  `` History has this in common with every other science : that the historian is not allowed to claim any single piece of knowledge , except where he can justify his <WSD>claim</WSD> by exhibiting to himself in the first place , and secondly to any one else who is both able and willing to follow his demonstration , the grounds upon which it is based . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  an assertion of a right (as to money or property)