 His visitors were encouraged to pay homage to the Bard by writing verses in Shakespeare 's honour and placing them at the foot of the statue . Garrick had the best of them published anonymously in the London journals . Some found this practice cloying ; Samuel Foote commented sarcastically that Garrick had " dedicated a temple to a certain divinity ... before whose shrine frequent libations are made , and on whose alter the fat of venison , a <unk> grateful to this deity , is seen often to smoke . " 
